Flying in a Winter Wonderland
by Izzy
Summary: Pair of Marcus/Katie ficlets written for Christmas 2004, before HBP came out.
1. In

It was six days until Christmas. Marcus was cold. But he was sick of his flat, and he didn't want to see his parents. There was nothing to do but fly in the snow.

It was ridiculous. How could Katie call him immature when she still clung to a rivalry he hadn't been part of for two years? Sure, the rivalry had been fun, but if she really wanted it back she could always join one of the Falcons' opponents. Not that he wanted that at all anymore. He'd much prefer to have her on his own side now, them crushing those opponents together.

Okay, so she was still in Hogwarts for one more year. But he'd been reading the papers, and hadn't she been part of that defense-spell group set up against the Dark Lord? Shouldn't that issue be what she was worrying about? And there they weren't enemies. Just because he'd had a good flyer with a great set of brooms as his Seeker didn't mean he shared his views on Muggle-borns, and he'd made that crystal clear to her.

He was willing to forget about the crap from school. Why wasn't she?

He'd long ago stopped trying to pretend she couldn't hurt him. They'd been in what he thought was a perfectly healty relationship way too long to pretend that. But that pain was numbed in the chill. Come to think of it, why was the snow so thick? It was looking like a blizzard.

Marcus was beginning to feel far more numb and was getting seriously worried about frostbite when he flew over a village he suddenly realized was hers. _I won't go,_ he told himself.

Five minutes later he was coasting down to her window, hoping she and her parents had gone out for the evening.

His hopes were raised when he saw the family car gone. But then he saw a light, and knew the worst was true. They'd gone out, and she was alone.

He flew to the window, suddenly aware he was chattering and shivering violently. When she looked, she had to see a pathetic sight.

She stood there, watching him. She looked perplexed.

Then she sighed and opened the window, yanked him over, and kissed him hard. Her mouth was deliciously warm. "For heaven's sake, Marcus, come in."


	2. Out

Marcus might have taken the whole five days to thaw out, but when Katie got her new Cleansweep a day early and wanted to go out for spin on Christmas Eve, he insisted on going with her. He was a bit eager to escape her parents, who had learned to accept him, but still didn't really approve of their daughter's choice of boyfriend.

Five minutes out and Katie was very happy to have him. His big hands on lay on top of hers, protecting them from the chill, and his big warm body pressed into her colder one. The contrast of the icy wind on her face was even thrilling.

That wind sometimes whistled in very odd ways, and the snow fell thick and fast, limiting visibility. So Katie didn't notice the red light until she very nearly collided right into Rudolph's antlers. She managed only at the last moment to swerve sharpy away, then stared, stunned, at the reindeer, who pulled to a halt in surprise.

"Ho Ho Ho!" Katie followed the sound of the laughter and brought them alongside the sleigh. There sat Father Christmas sat, with holly in his hair and thick red robes which nonetheless looked thinner then their many layers, yet he didn't seem to feel the cold at all.

Marcus voiced both their thoughts, "But-but-you don't exist! You can't; I never got coal!"

Father Christmas laughed again. "And have you two been good this year?" he asked.

"Er..." Well, he hadn't. And her? She considered her year, from her breaking of the rules at Hogwarts to her being a complete idiot with the quarrel that had nearly kept her and Marcus apart over the holidays. But then, most of her disobedience had been for a very good cause. And with the exception of a few things like the quarrel, she had done her best to do her part in uniting people to fight against You-Know-Who, in her own small way anyway. And so had Marcus for the matter. He's been especially good to her, in a way he hadn't been back when they'd been snogging in empty corridors.

Marcus still wasn't responding, so Katie said, "I think that would depend on your definition of good."


End file.
